Comedian will headline new 11 p.m. talk show starting in November

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First the network offered to move The Tonight Show to 12:05 a.m. to put The Jay Leno Show at 11:35, but Conan said in a statement that he thought the move would "seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting." O'Brien stepped down with an agreement that keeps him off the airwaves until Sept. 1.

Talk Show Wars: Conan Returns

The surprise announcement came from both the network and O'Brien, who tweeted: "The good news: I will be doing a show on TBS starting in November! The bad news: I'll be playing Rudy on the all new Cosby Show."

O'Brien's move will bump TBS' "Lopez Tonight," a talk show hosted by George Lopez, to midnight, the network said. Insiders had predicted that the O'Brien, who was only given 8-months at the "Tonight Show" desk by NBC, would end up on FOX.

Jay Leno's Tonight Show Farewell

Lopez wasn't bothered by the moves, welcoming O'Brien from his Twitter account. "A new generation of late night is about to begin!!" he wrote. He later followed that with a tweet simply saying "Team LO-CO" -- a reference to Team Coco, the rallying cry for Conan's fans during his spat with NBC and Leno.

TBS said talks with the comedian only started last week. O'Brien released a sarcastic statement confirming his return to television.

Conan Says Hello to "The Tonight Show"

"In three months, I've gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I'm headed to basic cable," O'Brien said in a statement. "My plan is working perfectly."

Neither TBS nor O'Brien have publicly disclosed how much he will be paid to host the show or what the format of the program will be.

Observers were caught unaware by the move, and immediate reaction focused on O'Brien's destination, not his actual return.